Launched today, Pixelbook Go starts at $649. It’s aimed at “people on the go” but aren’t we all? And I can’t help but think this is a slight reworking of the Pixel Slate in a laptop form factor.
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When leaked images and specs of the Pixelbook Go appeared, I wondered, “Who and what is this Chromebook for?” There are many reasons that Stadia could be the answer. Does “Go” mean “Gaming Online”?
Now $150 off, the Dell Inspiron Chromebook 14 brings above mid-range performance for a less than mid-range price of $399. A 1080p touch display with pen support and 8th-gen Core i3 processor round out the key features of this 2-in-1.
The first of Lenovo’s three newest Chromebooks is available, but not directly. Amazon is offering the Lenovo Chromebook C340-15 with Pentium Gold and large 1080p display with one-day shipping.
The venerable Samsung Chromebook 3 has a pair of low-cost but capable successors in the sub-$300 Chromebook 4 and 4+. These look great for students, daily browsing or secondary devices.
Chrome OS 79 is expected to add custom settings to the Reader Mode on Chromebooks, including choice of font, font size and more. Here’s a great example of what it should like, based on a currently available Chrome extension.
Got a $400 budget for your next Chromebook purchase? If I did, I’d pull the trigger on the HP Chromebook X360 14, currently on sale at Best Buy for $399; a great price for an 1080p device with Intel’s Core i3 U-series chip.
Earlier this year there were references to a “Click to call” feature for Chromebooks and it appears that Click to call will arrive in Chrome OS 78. Once it arrives, clicking a hyperlinked phone number will place the call on a supported Android phone.
Last year I said every Chromebook user should carry a USB stick in case they need to recover Chrome OS. That advice may be going out the window because your Android phone could be used in the future for recovery.
Google’s Password Checker, which will alert you if it sees your account credentials in database of 4 billion known breached accounts, lands on the web. Here’s how to use it on your Chromebook until Google integrates it into Chrome OS.
The Chromium team is working on a new feature for Chrome OS 79 that will scale down CPU resources for Linux apps running in the background. That should improve browser and Android app performance on Chromebooks when needed.